How many see merchants asking not to use Amex?

[Anonymous]

I just received a mailed pre-approval for Amex BCP with $200 welcome offer.  I closed an Amex Gold card about 20 years ago because a lot of merchants wouldn't accept or would charge extra if I tried to use Amex.  I'm tempted to get this card for the cash back offers but wondering how merchants react to using Amex now days.

[Anonymous]

Amex is the official card of small businesses everywhere they even have an endorsed holiday in a November every year "Small Business Saturday".

I would say 95% of merchants accept Amex. You'll run into a few here and there that don't but they cover most businesses.

[mongstradamus]

I think it depends where you are i have been to towns  where almost nobody accepts amex except the big chain stores.

[Anonymous]

If you want to make sure the business will accept your credit card, just ask or use MasterCard or Visa. AMEX is adding more merchants yearly, but acceptance is still less the MC/Visa. Discover is now accepted more than AMEX. I see places the take only MasterCard and Visa, some will take AMEX in addition. Most places take AMEX, the BCE and BCP are nice card for groceries.

[Dalmus]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If you want to make sure the business will accept your credit card, just ask or use MasterCard or Visa. AMEX is adding more merchants yearly, but acceptance is still less the MC/Visa. Discover is now accepted more than AMEX. I see places the take only MasterCard and Visa, some will take AMEX in addition. Most places take AMEX, the BCE and BCP are nice card for groceries.

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 My company actually takes everything except Discover.  They have the highest swipe fees by far and won't bring them down to be competitive.  We do a high volume of transactions, too.

 I've found that generally any place that has a large number of business travelers and tourists generally has a high rate of Amex acceptance.  Areas where most businesses deal primarily with Locals are the ones with spotty acceptance.

 A problem easily solved by making sure that you have a Visa and/or MC in your wallet along with the Amex!

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just received a mailed pre-approval for Amex BCP with $200 welcome offer.  I closed an Amex Gold card about 20 years ago because a lot of merchants wouldn't accept or would charge extra if I tried to use Amex.  I'm tempted to get this card for the cash back offers but wondering how merchants react to using Amex now days.

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Acceptance is definitely better now, and I've never been charged more for using AMEX over another payment network.   Either they accept it or not.   

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just received a mailed pre-approval for Amex BCP with $200 welcome offer.  I closed an Amex Gold card about 20 years ago because a lot of merchants wouldn't accept or would charge extra if I tried to use Amex.  I'm tempted to get this card for the cash back offers but wondering how merchants react to using Amex now days.

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I haven't encountered any yet, but I saw one merchant kind of sigh when I pulled out the PRG for pizza last night. 

[HeavenOhio]

I've had AMEX for almost a month, and I've only run into one place that didn't accept it. That merchant was Visa/MC only.

I also ran into a bizarre situaiton where AMEX didn't work when I tried to order something online, even though the site purported to take all four cards. When I called and asked, I was told that AMEX sometimes needs a kick in the butt to make it take. I was surprised to run into an AMEX "maybe" vs. a simple yes or no, but I'm guessing that weirdness is specific to that merchant. I simply used my MasterCard rather than asking the merchant to try to kickstart AMEX.

[Anonymous]

I've found that AMEX acceptance is much better today than in the past. Before it was very exclusive and only very seldom did small businesses take AMEX. However, now I see the AMEX signs in nearly every store window. I only ever have trouble every now and then when going to small town restuarants or corner stores (non franchise/chain locations). Nearly every big chain store accepts AMEX and many small businesses do as well.

[Red1Blue]

I pretty much use amex for every thing every day except for couple of things.